AUSTIN — In the wake of another disappointment — as a hopeless chorus of “here we go again” rung out from Austin — the Longhorns closed ranks.

In the bowels of FedEx Field in Landover, Md., Texas eschewed another round of soul-searching. Instead, following a 34-29 season-opening loss to a Maryland team in turmoil, they struck a tone of resilience and defiance.

In that aftermath of that now-confounding loss, it seemed coach Tom Herman and his team had been privy to a secret the rest of the world would soon know.

The days leading into the Longhorns’ home opener against Tulsa were filled with a reemergence of the same questions that couldn’t be answered last year, plus one bizarre rambling that invoked the name of John Steinbeck.

A storm of doubt swelled around Sam Ehlinger’s ability to be the quarterback of the present and future after he tossed two interceptions in the waning minutes of another winnable game. Questions abounded over whether Todd Orlando’s defense would again be able to prop up Texas for long stretches after losing several critical cogs. And of course, there was Herman’s now infamous, somewhat butchered reference to “Of Mice and Men” in which he related his team to the simpleton Lennie, whose story ends with a mercy killing at the hands of his best friend.

As tumult threatened to engulf Texas football, the team played it cool.

“Although the outcome is similar to last year’s opener, this one feels much different, and the reason for it is because the reason we played so poorly, in my opinion, is actually a good reason,” Herman said Sept. 3. “Because of how close this team has become, how badly they wanted to perform for each other and for their coaches.”

No one outside the Texas locker room could see the difference in Game 2.

The Longhorns won, managed to hold off their opponent, 28-21, in part due to a pair of purposely plodding fourth-quarter drives siphoning more than 12 minutes off the clock.

Ehlinger was steady and turnover-free. Wideout Lil’Jordan Humphrey was overpowering and borderline unstoppable. Freshman running back Keaontay Ingram danced and darted about the field, and looked like a future superstar doing it. The defense didn’t break.

That one-score victory came against a Tulsa team that won two games in 2017, though. Herman shouldered some of the blame, admitting his halftime demeanor may have been too abrasive, but his vision of what Texas really was remained obscured.

And for a second straight week, with No. 22 USC coming to town, Longhorn nation stirred and stressed. The Longhorns still remained resolute.

“Prove us right, that’s it,” senior cornerback Kris Boyd said. “We want to prove us right. Nobody else matters. We ain’t trying to prove no point to nobody else but each other.”

A record 103,507 fans packed Royal-Memorial Stadium for the Longhorns’ primetime meeting with the Trojans. They witnessed the transformation, the secret unveiled, firsthand.

Texas rattled off 34 consecutive points after falling behind 14-3 in the first quarter, dismantling USC over the final 45 minutes to complete a resounding 37-14 win.

And it was on that night when coordinator Todd Orlando’s defense found life.

Texas held USC to negative-5 rushing yards, totaled 10½ tackles for loss, and sacked quarterback J.T. Daniels three times. The most indelible image was junior safety Brandon Jones bolting out of the end zone to drag down USC tailback Stephen Carr for a 2-yard loss on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line — Texas trailed 14-13 at the time.

“Last year, those guys got up on us and were in a dogfight,” senior linebacker Gary Johnson said after the win. “We knew we couldn’t give up any more points and that’s something we told everybody on the sideline: no more points.

“Do your job, make plays, and execute. And the fans just gave us energy, gave us juice out there.”

In the wake of that win, outside expectations shifted.

USC didn’t look all that impressive. Let’s see how Texas performs against a TCU team that just went toe-to-toe with Ohio State.

Texas suffocated TCU’s offense, forcing four turnovers — two courtesy of freshman safety and former Steele standout Caden Sterns — and allowed only one second-half field goal in a 31-16 win. Ehlinger again avoided making grievous errors, and 6-foot-6 junior wideout Collin Johnson (124 yards, one touchdown) furthered his growth into a nightmare matchup for opposing defenses.

It was becoming clearer with each passing week that the oft-repeated “1-0 each week” mantra was ingrained in the Longhorns’ identity. Every win provided validation, each 1-0 stacked on top of another in a rising tower of success.

“I think we all have bought in,” Jones said. “Every position, every player on the team. We know what we’re capable of doing.

“The difference between now and in the past is we’re really having fun. When you’re having fun you’re more confident, you’re out there playing with swagger.”

Texas exercised its demons in Manhattan, Kan., shaking the strange twilight zone effect of Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Its 19-14 win over Kansas State represented a tonal shift after two explosive outings, but it demonstrated the team’s ability to adapt and win a slugfest.

In the midst of its most prosperous stretch in years, Texas boarded a flight back home and braced for Red River Showdown week.

No. 7 Oklahoma, led by Heisman candidate quarterback Kyler Murray and stocked with jet-boosted skill players, owned one of the most prolific offenses in the country. Texas was just another village to conquer on its march to the College Football Playoff, or so some thought.

Texas exposed the Sooners’ leaky defense, scoring on seven of its first eight drives to stun and silence the crimson-and-cream portion of the bifurcated Cotton Bowl. Ehlinger threw for two scores, ran in three more, and caught a 28-yard touchdown pass from running back Tre Watson.

The Sooners battled back. They scored 21 straight points in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 45 apiece.

No problem. Ehlinger drove Texas 52 yards in two and a half minutes and left the outcome to a freshman kicker who to that point had waffled between poised and unreliable. With 14 seconds left, Cameron Dicker lined up and blasted the 40-yard game-winner through the center of the uprights.

Following the white-knuckle win, senior defensive lineman Breckyn Hager flashed back to Maryland. With a white cowboy hat affixed to his head, a glowing Hager gave thanks for what happened in week one, believing it helped “cut the cancer.”

“I’m glad we lost that game,” Hager said. “I’m still so happy we lost that game. To be where we’re at now and have everything bought-in to the hardest program in the country is nothing short of a miracle.”

Maybe the most tangible proof of Texas’ transformation arrived last weekend during a tussle with Baylor.

A shoulder injury knocked Ehlinger out on the first drive of the game, leading junior Shane Buechele to make his season debut. The veteran made enough plays — a 44-yard touchdown pass to Johnson was the highlight — Ingram wiggled his way to a season-high 110 yards, and the defense kept Baylor quarterback Charlie Brewer (sacked three times, hurried nine times) from getting comfortable in a 23-17 win at Royal-Memorial Stadium.

Texas’ sixth straight win left it alone atop the Big 12, resulted in a rise to No. 7 in the Associated Press poll, and secured bowl eligibility. Though, that last bit didn’t strike anyone in burnt orange as particularly noteworthy.

“You know,” Herman said, “I remember last year in the locker room in Morgantown, West Virginia and watching guys like (Poona) Ford and (Naashon) Hughes and those guys, dancing around like we’d won the Super Bowl saying, ‘We’re going Bowling! We’re going Bowling! We’re going Bowling!’

“And also thinking, oohh, we got some work to do. I don’t think they even know in there. I don’t think that not going to a Bowl game even crossed anybody’s mind when the season started.”

The secret is out: Texas is again a program to be reckoned with.

It is a team with Big 12 title aspirations and — should it manage to win its remaining five regular-season contests plus the conference championship game — one with an outside shot at sneaking into the College Football Playoff.

Following the loss to Maryland, Herman addressed all of his players. His message that day set the tone for everything that came next.

“We told the guys that this one game will not define us,” Herman said. “How we grow from it and respond to it, will.”